The Clues He Left Behind
by ecv
Summary: Set before Booth and Brennan were together, but it might not end up that way. Booth is gone, kidnapped and with almost nothing to go on, Brennan must find him. But Booth is not without some ideas of his own.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: A new story. I hope you enjoy the beginning of a new journey._

 _As usual, I don't own Bones._

"Come on, Bones, keep up," Booth teased, turning to look over his shoulder. After a rather difficult case, Booth had picked up his partner for an early morning run, hoping to let off a little steam before going in to work. For the moment, he was running ahead of her, but knew she wouldn't be happy with that for long. Bones didn't like to lose.

Which she gleefully reminded him of when he stumbled over a rock. "You should have chosen a more appropriate running area for your lack of physical coordination," she taunted as she jogged past him. "Perhaps the sidewalk outside of your apartment, rather than a trail through the woods."

She was panting a little, and so was he. The trail, while isolated, provided just a little bit more of a challenge for the two of them. Booth had run it more than once alone, and while he'd enjoyed the silence, he was willing to admit it was a lot more fun with company.

Booth chased her for a time, enjoying the view. It probably wasn't something he should have been doing, but with Bones in front of him, he could get away with it. Bones was a beautiful woman and if he'd been noticing her a bit more lately, who was there to notice? It was just two of them.

He was lost in the pounding of his feet beneath him, the view in front of him, when Brennan stopped so abruptly, he almost ran her over. "What the hell, Bones? Is there a bear up there?" he asked as she began to back toward him.

"You could say that," a voice said. Booth reached forward to grab Bones and pull her slightly behind him.

He didn't look like much. Dirty jeans and an old t-shirt covered the lanky frame. But a gun was clearly visible in his waistband.

"We're just jogging," Booth said calmly. "Didn't mean to interrupt anything. We'll just turn around and go back."

"No?" the man asked. He looked relaxed, but Booth could see the tension in his muscles. "Well, I'm not jogging and I meant to interrupt you."

Booth's heart, still beating rapidly from running, was beginning to slow. He could feel the calmness settling on him, a feeling he recognized. It happened when he was in danger. A coolness, that allowed him to do what needed to be done to get out of a situation alive. It helped him to think, at a pace that was almost as rapid as his partners.

Raising his hands so they were visible, Booth tried to talk their way out of whatever they'd stumbled into. "We'll just back our way out of here," he said, taking first one and then another step back. Brennan followed his lead, not saying a word. She was too busy taking in everything so she could remember it later. There was no way she was allowing anyone to threaten them this way.

But both stopped moving when a second figure stepped out behind the first, followed by a third directly behind Booth and Brennan. Booth adjusted his body slightly, so he could see everyone at once. "We don't have any money," he said slowly, keeping his hands raised. "But I can give you the keys to my car."

The first man who appeared snorted, clearly amused by the offer. "We don't want money." Pulling the gun from his waistband, he cocked the weapon and pointed it at Brennan. "We want you," he said, his eyes on Booth.

From his vantage point, he could see weapons on the second and third man, and knew they were in trouble. Brennan met Booth's eyes and tilted her head slightly. He glanced around them again and shook his head almost imperceptibly. No, they couldn't fight their way out of this. Not when surrounded by men with guns. And neither of them armed.

Booth focused his attention on the man holding the gun on Bones. Clearly he was the leader. "I'll go with you as long as she gets out of this alive," he offered. "Willingly. I won't fight it."

"Booth," she hissed, clearly annoyed. She didn't like that plan at all. There had to be a better way, a different way to get them both out of this alive.

Looking around them, Brennan's mind work at a frantic pace, considering options and discarding them just as quickly. She refused to give up, despite the fact she was quickly coming to the same realization as her partner.

Three men, all armed. Two of them, neither with a weapon. Booth's was locked in the SUV. It was hard to jog with his gun, they'd tried in the past, and it had proven to be annoying. So now, he usually left it behind. Neither of them had ever considered they'd be threatened like this.

The leader smiled. HIs teeth were bright and straight, not fitting with the persona at all. "Sure, whatever you want. They didn't pay us to pick her up anyway. Just you." He waved the gun. "Over here, sweetheart."

"Go, Temperance," Booth said softly, praying just once she would listen to him. Clearly, given the last statement, these men were only here for him, not her. They'd probably been expecting him to jog alone, as he had in the past. Bones was a complication they didn't want to deal with. He only hoped he could get them to leave her alive. "You're the only one," he added, hoping she understood his meaning.

She nodded and moved in the direction indicated. She was the only one he trusted to find him in time. The only one he thought could put all the clues together to get him out of this in one piece. He'd go with them now, to keep her alive, and she would save him later. Not a great plan. But still a workable one. They'd both managed it before. Surely, they could do it again.

Smiling cruelly, the man with the gun stepped behind her. "I'll leave her alive, but not conscious," he announced, turning the gun to hit her on the head. "We need a bit of a head start after all." Brennan dropped like a rock and Booth formed fists so tightly he was sure he broke skin.

"I'll kill you for that," he said coldly. It was a promise he fully intended to keep. He could see Brennan's chest moving up and down and knew she wasn't dead. Still, the sight of his partner unconscious was something he knew would haunt him in the future, and fuel his anger for the next several hours.

Behind him, he heard the sound of a gun being pulled, but he didn't turn. The leader looked at Booth and shook his head. "We don't get paid if he dies. Deliver him alive, those were our instructions."

Bending over, he grabbed Brennan by the feet and dragged her into the trees. It took only seconds before the two of them disappeared from view.

"Hurt her," Booth called after him, "and you'll never get me out of here alive." He had an advantage now, even if it was slim. Most likely, Booth wouldn't be shot in the near future. Not until this played out.

Seconds later, the man Booth promised to kill reappeared. "She'll wake up in a little while. No sense in getting violent over it. Now let's go. Back down the trail. We have quite a ways to go after we get out of here."

Considering his options, and knowing he had none at the moment, Booth turned slowly and started back down the trail, one man in front and two behind him. All armed. He had no chance at taking all three of them before being shot.

It seemed to take no time at all to get back to where Booth had parked his vehicle. Next to it was a vehicle very similar to his. He had to give the idiots around him credit; any witnesses would mention a black SUV and most officers wouldn't question the statement enough to realize there were two of them in the lot, not just one.

A fourth man stepped out of the vehicle as they approached it, also armed. "There's a woman in the woods," a voice said behind Booth. "Go take care of her."

Before the statement was finished, Booth whirled without conscious thought. He simply acted. The leader had stepped too close behind him and it took only a second for Booth to free him of his weapon, cock it, and point it at his forehead.

The other three men pulled their guns as well, but didn't raise them, unsure what to do. Clearly, they weren't the brains of this operation.

But for Booth, everything had come down to this moment, this decision. He saw nothing, acknowledged nothing, except for the man standing at the end of the barrel.

"I'll kill you right now," he said coldly. He could feel his finger on the trigger, pulling it just slightly. It would take only the smallest amount of pressure to finish the motion. "Your friends might kill me after that, but you'll still be dead and no one will get paid. And, figuring you guys are amateurs at best, I might get at least one more of them before I go down."

In front of him, the man blinked and licked his lips nervously. There was nothing nervous about Booth. While he couldn't hold the position forever, right now the gun was rock steady as he aimed it. Booth would do what it took to make sure Bones got out of this alive. The cost to himself was not a factor.

"You leave the woman in the woods alone. She gets to go home tonight, alive and unharmed, and I go with you quietly. Otherwise, when she wakes up, she's going to stumble across a lot of bodies in this parking lot. And I guarantee at least one of them will be yours."

There was a long pause and Booth took a step forward, until the gun touched his forehead. "Call off your man," Booth ordered.

Booth knew what was in his eyes, he only hoped the other man recognized what it meant. No fear, no regret or hesitation at the thought of taking another's life and perhaps losing his as well. It meant he would kill to get what he wanted.

Another moment, then a short nod. "Leave her alone," was the new order and Booth forced himself to take a step back. Slowly, he relaxed his muscles enough to prevent pulling the trigger. But he had to admit it had been close.

His assailant held out his hand for the weapon. Booth calculated his odds and instead threw the weapon into the trees behind them. "I'm sure you have more," he said with a casual shrug. And he was sure the Squints would find it, giving them one more clue to follow.

Taunting them probably wasn't the best idea, but this crew was just making a delivery. They wouldn't kill him. At least, not yet.

Attempting to regain control of the situation, the crew's leader motioned toward the second SUV. "Get in the back," he said.

Nodding, Booth turned and crawled into the second seat. He was immediately surrounded on both sides, along with the two in the front, making escape next to impossible.

Not that he would have tried. His only goal at the moment was to get them away from his unconscious partner. Escape chances would come later.

"Start driving, Mike," the man in the passenger seat ordered and Booth filed the name away for later. "We have a long drive ahead of us before we get to the cabin. And our boss wants us there by tomorrow night at the latest."

A drive of that length of time would put them almost anywhere on the East coast. But a cabin implied the woods. Isolation. Booth didn't know what the endgame was, be he was sure it didn't end with him surviving this ordeal.

His hope, at least until he came up with a plan, now lay with his unconscious partner.

 _Thanks for reading. My plan is to update each weekend, hopefully Saturday. On that note, until next week..._


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Right now, you're thinking that it's not the weekend yet. But I have tomorrow off and I've decided that means it's the weekend. At least for the purposes of our little story._

 _Thank you for all the reviews and the follows and the favorites. I'm always glad to have readers that enjoy what I write._

Brennan felt tickling first. On her arms, her legs and her face. She opened her eyes and blinked slowly, unsure of why the sun was shining in her eyes. Her bed wasn't near a window; there shouldn't have been light directly in her eyes. Confused, she closed them again, trying to go back to sleep.

The next time she opened her eyes, the sun had shifted positions in the sky and Brennan was relieved. The earlier light had caused a rather intense headache and Brennan winced as she tried to focus.

Irritated at the tickling sensation, she brought a hand up to brush at her face and touched leaves. Thoroughly irritated now, she sat up, ready to yell at Booth for putting some sort of plant so close to her place of sleeping. Surely, even he knew better than that. Of course, why Booth had been in her bedroom to begin with was probably a better question.

Only she groaned, and both the comment and question disappeared as she fought the need to throw up. Taking deep, even breaths, Brennan fought the urge, and the sudden sense of panic that threatened to overwhelm her. She'd never panicked, no matter the situation, and she had no intention of starting now.

"Booth?" she groaned and cringed at the noise. With controlled movements, she turned her head slowly, taking in what was around her.

It was clear she was outside, and the memory was there, but she couldn't grasp it. Slowly, she tilted her head down. Recognized her running clothes. And grabbed the first tendril of memory.

"I was running. But not alone. I wouldn't run here alone," she said aloud, despite the fact it made her head hurt even more.

"Booth," she said again, trying to raise the volume of her voice. There was not way she'd been out here alone. There was nothing near her but trees. She was positive Booth had picked her up at her house that morning. They'd driven here together. Or somewhere near here. He wouldn't have left her in the middle of the forest.

Using a tree behind her for leverage, Brennan pulled herself to her feet. She swayed and finally leaned against the tree to prevent herself from falling. Frantically, she tried to piece together her morning.

Booth had picked her up. Driven them to the woods. They'd started running. Then there was, there was…

The slam of the memory had her straightening from the tree and starting down the trail. Her first few steps were unsteady, and despite the urgent need pushing her on, Brennan forced herself to slow. To orient herself and find the trail. She couldn't help Booth if she was lost for hours in the woods.

She remembered nothing after Booth telling her she was the only one, but Brennan didn't need the memory to piece together what had happened. Clearly, she'd been knocked unconscious. And Booth was gone, beyond her help for the immediate moment. But he was trusting her to find him.

She stumbled several times, and stopped once to vomit near a tree. It took longer than she wanted to get back to the SUV, but she allowed herself no time to rest. No one else came up the trail and Brennan had to rely on herself to find her way back.

When a wave of dizziness threatened to knock her to her knees, she pushed through it. Booth needed her. The physical symptoms of what was surely a concussion would have to wait.

Arriving back at their vehicle, she tried the door, only to find it locked. She could see the phones, taunting her from their location behind locked doors.

"Keys," she muttered. "I have a key. Where is the key?"

Looking down at herself, she noticed light glinting from her shoe and she sat down to access it. She'd tied the spare key to her shoelace. Booth always insisted she take a key, just in case she had to access the SUV without him.

His ridiculous need for safety always drove her crazy. Yet neither of them had carried a weapon or a phone, trusting that they could keep each other safe. Booth would probably never take her running again.

Her fingers were clumsy, and she dropped the key twice trying to get it seated in the lock. Finally, the door was open, and she half collapsed across the seat, reaching for her phone.

She called the first number she could think of. She had hundreds of numbers committed to memory, but none came to mind as quickly.

It was answered after a few rings. Her heart racing, Brennan leaned more of her weight across the seat, finally acknowledging some of the pain she was in. "Angela, I need help."

OoOoOo

They came in twos. Angela and Hodgins. Cam and Wendell. An EMT and driver in an ambulance. They all had a partner.

It seemed everything in life came in twos. Couples, twins, wheels on a bicycle.

It made the absence of her other half even more obvious.

"Go the hospital, Sweetie," Angela implored, holding an ice pack to Brennan's head as the EMT took her blood pressure. "You were unconscious for a long time-"

"Fifteen minutes is not that long of a time," Brennan interrupted coolly. "Twenty minutes at the most. I wasn't unconscious that long and have suffered no concerning memory loss. I remember most of the incident before I was struck. I am needed here."

There was no way she was going to the hospital to be poked and prodded by clueless doctors. Booth needed her. There would be time to take care of herself later.

The EMT made eye contact with Angela and shrugged. None of his patient's vitals were concerning enough at that moment for him to even attempt to argue with her. Besides, she clearly had friends looking out for her. If this woman in front of him took a turn, they would get her the help she needed.

Angela waved him away and helped Brennan to her feet. "At least sit in the back of the SUV with me while Hodgins and Wendell look for clues. We'll open the back so you can see everything that's going on. You can tell Cam and I what happened."

Grateful her best friend didn't fight her on this, Brennan gave in as graciously as she could. She was dizzy, but had no intention of admitting it. Sitting was probably a good idea for the moment.

"They stepped out of the woods," Brennan began when Cam and Angela were in front of her.

"They?" Cam asked.

Brennan was going to nod, then decided better of it. "Yes, they. Three of them." Her memory had returned, up until the moment she'd stopped beside the first man who'd stepped out of the trees. She assumed that's when she'd been struck. "All armed."

Angela swallowed her dismay and urged Brennan to continue. She couldn't worry about what had already happened to her friend. Instead, they needed to prevent what was sure to happen to Booth if they didn't find him in time.

"But they didn't rob you?" Cam asked. "Did they threaten you?"

"Yes, but only to get Booth to go with them. He offered to go without a fight if they left me alone. He told me to follow their orders. Told me I was the only one."

"The only one?" Angela asked.

"The only one who could find him," Cam supplied, before Brennan could answer. "He figured we, or at least Dr. Brennan, would be able to get him out of this alive."

"Yes," Brennan said with a sigh. "That's exactly what he meant. That's about the time I was struck. When I woke, I'd been dragged into the trees. And everyone else was gone."

"Can you describe them?" Angela asked, her fingers tingling. She always had a sketchpad in her bag. If Brennan could give her anything at all, they could get started.

"The first man, I could. I believe he was the leader. His teeth. They were so perfect, so white. They did not fit with the persona he was portraying. It…bugged me at the time."

"I've got a gun," Hodgins yelled from his location just past the tree line. "It's a handgun." With gloved hands, he retrieved it and brought it forward.

"Grab a kit. Is there blood on it?" Brennan both asked and demanded.

Hodgins followed the directive and after several seconds nodded. "Blood. On the end of the grip."

"It's the gun that hit me," Brennan concluded.

The three people surrounding her shared a look. Finally Cam voiced the thought. "You don't usually jump to conclusions, Dr. Brennan."

"Booth is missing. We have no idea where, or who, or why. Usually we have one of those things when we start a case, but right now we have nothing. If changing my habits, at least for the moment, can assist us in some way, I'm willing to try some of what I've learned from him."

She looked at her team, her friends and tried to convey some of her thoughts. "We have a gun, probably used to strike me. But we don't know how Booth got his hands on it, or why he threw it away. We have so many unanswered questions, and…I fear a very limited amount of time to get them answered."

Angela could hear the tension behind the words, the fear she would never voice. Reaching out, she grabbed Brennan's hand and squeezed it. "We'll find him. We're the best. We'll find him."

"Of course we will," Brennan agreed. She just hoped he was still alive when they did.

OoOoOo

Booth spent the first ten minutes of the ride imagining the sound the driver's neck would make when he broke it. He knew how to do it, had been trained to do it. Just the right amount of pressure and he'd never know what happened.

That would then be followed by Mike and the other two people in the car killing him, but the satisfaction he would get from the sound of bones snapping would be worth it. At least until he was killed.

Bones would disagree with that sentiment, though, so he refrained from making a move. She would expect, no demand, that he still be alive when she found him, so Booth knew better than to do anything that would put his life in immediate danger.

Not that he wasn't already in danger. These men were well armed; the driver had retrieved a second gun from under the seat after Booth had relieved him of his first weapon. Booth had little doubt there were more weapons stashed in the back of the SUV.

At first, he'd tried to keep track of the turns they were making, so if he had the chance to make a call, he at least had a general idea of where he was. But after the first several turns, all made to keep them off main roads, Booth knew that wasn't going to be possible. And his position in the car, plus their location, was going to make Angela's facial recognition software useless. No camera would catch his image while he was stuck in the back.

So he catalogued the items he had on him, which didn't take long either. Shorts, t-shirt, socks, and sneakers. Not a whole lot there that would help him escape. He didn't even have a pen to write a message with. They'd kidnapped him at almost the perfect time.

Which raised even more questions. Who were these guys working for? What case had he worked recently where someone would want to take him, but not Bones? There was nothing that rang a bell. No connection he could make.

Unless it had nothing to do with a current case? Was it a past case? Someone who didn't realize exactly who he worked with now? That was a more intriguing possibility. And one he would explore later.

For the moment, he forced himself to stare toward the front and wait. Opportunities would come. He just had to be ready for them.


	3. Chapter 3

"We need gas," was the announcement from the driver, less than two hours after Booth had been kidnapped. "We've only been on the road a short time. Didn't you fill this last night like I told you, RJ?"

A second name, filed away.

The man to Booth's left shrugged. RJ was a short, squat man who had as much fat as muscle, in Booth's opinion anyway. His advantage in a fight probably came from his weight, and not from skills with his fists. "I had other things I needed to take care of." What those things were was left unsaid. Booth hoped he'd enjoyed what would probably be one of his last nights of freedom. Or life. Either was an acceptable outcome at this point.

Booth shifted, already planning. "Good. I need to use the restroom," he announced. "And I'm hungry."

The driver met his eyes in the rearview mirror. "What?"

"Bathroom. Food. I'm sure your boss told you to bring me in one piece. I need food to stay healthy. And I'm sure the guys in the back here won't be happy if you don't let me use the restroom."

It was a calculated risk, taunting them and making demands. But Booth figured if their directions were to make sure he arrived alive, he had a good chance of getting away with it.

The driver, who Booth had started calling Jimmy in his head, after a rather inept officer from his early military days, slammed on the brakes. They had yet to leave the back roads and Booth hadn't seen a car in fifteen minutes, so there was probably no danger of being hit while they stopped in the middle of the road.

"This is how this is going to work," Jimmy said, still staring at Booth in the mirror. "We'll stop for gas and you can use the restroom," Jimmy declared, not believing his victim had to use it anyway. "But if you make one move to escape, to let anyone know what's going on, we'll kill everyone at the gas station. Cashier, attendant, mom with kids. Doesn't matter, they'll die. So be careful. I'm sure you'd hate to have those deaths eating away at your conscious."

Booth gave a sharp nod but didn't break eye contact, forcing Jimmy to be the first to turn away. It was a good threat, one that would make sure he got back in the vehicle. He wouldn't risk the life of some lonely cashier, stuck working a job at an isolated gas station. Didn't mean there weren't a couple things he could try this crew might not recognize.

Because, as far as Booth could tell, these guys were as amateur as they came. Sure, they made good threats, the kind that would guarantee he'd follow directions for the moment, but not having a vehicle full of gas just screamed lack of experience.

It was just as Booth figured would be. Gas station practically in the middle of nowhere. Town with a main street that had died years ago, not long after the highway was put in. Booth wasn't sure how the gas station had made it this long.

Grateful to be out of the back seat, Booth stretched his back and observed his surroundings. Running wasn't an option. While he didn't give the men he was stuck with a lot of credit, he had a feeling Jimmy would follow through on his threat to kill people. And in just that short time, Booth counted one person at the pump, plus at least one more inside with the cashier. He wouldn't risk their lives to save his own.

"Don't forget," Jimmy said as he walked up next to him. He gave Booth a glimpse of the gun in his waistband before pulling the t-shirt down to conceal it. "The lives of everyone in this place are your responsibility."

Booth ignored him, stepping away and toward the gas station. RJ and Mike went with him. Mike had orders to pay cash for the gas, so there were no credit card receipts. The fourth man, who as of yet had no name, fake or otherwise, remained behind. It gave Booth a little better odds, and he had every intention of taking advantage of them.

There wasn't much inside. The typical aisle of chips and coolers of drinks The counter was lined with various trinkets that most gas stations sold. Booth looked longingly at the counter of pens; he desperately missed the one he always carried in his suit, but he made no move to grab one. Not with his new best friends so closely on his heels. It certainly hadn't taken Mike long to pay for gas.

He looked around casually, as if looking for the bathroom, trying to come up with some way, any way to get a message back to Bones and the Squints. Something that wouldn't end in casualties.

There was a woman in the station buying drinks. Booth watched her for a moment, before turning his attention away. She came toward them and when Booth didn't step back, attempted to crowd around him. With the two men so close behind him, there was no place for him to move. Booth watched, both amused and horrified, when the large bag she carried knocked most of the items on the counter to the floor.

Taking advantage, Booth jumped back much harder than necessary, bumping into the two guys behind him. While they fought for balance, he feigned falling forward and used the opportunity to grab a marker rolling on the ground near his feet. A quick twist of the wrist and it was safely concealed inside his sneaker. It wasn't much, but it was more than he had only seconds before.

If Bones had been there, she would have known something was up. But the fools behind him didn't suspect a thing.

"I'm going to the restroom," he announced. Ignoring the very angry woman in front of him, Booth fought down the urge to help her. He knew he should, he wanted to, but didn't dare. He'd already taken a huge risk by grabbing the marker and wouldn't take another so soon after the first.

So, he stepped over the mess and headed toward the back of the station. His two tails, recovered from almost falling, followed him. Booth didn't say anything until he opened the bathroom door.

"Listen," he said, opening the door wide enough so they could see inside. "It's for one person with no window and no second exit. I think I can go in here alone."

Mike and RJ looked at each other and finally RJ shrugged. "Five minutes or I shoot that young cashier." He made a show of looking at his watch. "You better get going," he said when Booth didn't move.

Stepping back and locking the door between them, Booth bent over and grabbed the marker from his shoe. Black and permanent it was perfect for what he intended to use it for.

He'd given some thought to this in the car. What could he write that would get to Bones, but not get him or anyone else killed?

Another glance at his watch and he started the message. Then he capped the marker, now feeling guilty for writing graffiti on the bathroom door, and shoved it back into his shoe. Flushing and using the sink for good measure, he opened the door with a minute to spare.

"Jimmy's waiting for us," Booth said as he exited. He didn't want any of them to try and go in after him. But, of course, very little about this day had gone right. So this didn't either.

"Jimmy? His name is Rocky," Mike said, turning to go into the room Booth had just vacated.

Hearing the thud of an elbow against flesh, Booth didn't have to fight a smile. He was too busy planning what to do if either man figured out he'd just written a message on the back of the door.

Mike, angry at being hit, shot RJ a look as they came back out of the bathroom. "What difference does it make? He ain't gonna tell anyone." Mike looked back at Booth. "Good thing you behaved yourself so we don't have to kill anyone. Let's go."

Booth's blood ran cold at the confirmation of his fate at the end of this ordeal. Still, he pushed that from his mind as he walked in front of them. He'd been a lot closer to death than this. He still had a chance; a pretty good one as far as he was concerned.

Jimmy or Rocky now, was waiting against the SUV, arms crossed across his chest. "'Bout time. You didn't leave him alone, did you?"

"Never alone," RJ said, not wanting to listen to the complaining if Rocky knew their captive had been in the restroom alone.

Eyes darting back and forth, Rocky considered all three men before nodding and pointing at the vehicle. "We have enough gas to go for some time. Get in."

Crawling back into position, Booth sent up a silent prayer that someone would see his message and follow through. It would at least give his friends a place to start looking.

 _A/N: I had every intention of following a schedule. I'd post one day a week and everyone would look forward to that day. Clearly, I've thrown that plan out the window..._

 _Thanks for reading and the reviews. Enjoy the rest of the week._


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Thanks for all the follows and likes and reviews. I really appreciate it._

 _I have a major project due Wednesday at work and will be turning my focus totally to that for the short term. Please don't expect another update before the end of the week while I take care of that. Thanks for understanding. :)_

Two hours after writing the message on the door, no different from throwing a bottle into the ocean as far as Booth was concerned, Brennan's phone rang.

The team was currently in Angela's office, attempting to find any hint of Booth on the various cameras around the state. As of yet, they'd had no luck, and Brennan was getting antsy.

The gun had turned up almost nothing. The serial number came back to a woman out of New York who'd reported the gun stolen six months ago. Her story seemed to check out, other agents were looking further into her background, but right now that avenue seemed like a dead end.

They had also recovered several fingerprints. Several came back to Booth, confirming Brennan's suspicions that he'd handled the gun at some point. The others were unidentified, despite Angela's searches through various databases. They had broadened that search, but as of yet, there was nothing.

With that lack of information, Brennan didn't turn away from anything that might give them a clue. So when the phone rang, she placed it on the center of a table where everyone could hear, and accepted the call, despite the fact she didn't recognize the number.

"Hello? This is Dr. Temperance Brennan."

"Oh," a young male voice answered. He sounded a bit disappointed. "I'm trying to find a person named Joy."

There were only a handful of people who knew her birth name. She was sure most of the people in the room knew.

And, of course, Booth knew.

But as far as general knowledge? Probably not.

Angela, recognizing the significance of the name immediately, started tracing the call on her computer.

Brennan swallowed thickly. "This is Joy," she said. Cam and Hodgins shared a look, but didn't interrupt. They had worked together long enough to recognize when something important was taking place.

"Oh, good. I was just wondering if I won the prize?" her caller asked hopefully.

Even Brennan was confused by that one, but she tried to act like she wasn't. "Of course, you won a prize. How did you find me?" she asked, trying to ask a question that wouldn't raise suspicions, but would get her the information she needed.

"Well, there was this message that said if I was the tenth caller, I would win at least one gift card. My friends told me I was stupid to call, that the gift would only be for like a dollar or to a store I didn't know, but I thought, what the hell do I have to lose, you know?"

In the background, the voices of other boys could be heard. They were making fun of their friend for calling the number to begin with.

"I have it," Angela mouthed to the group.

Brennan nodded. "Well, you tell your friends that they're wrong. The gift is definitely more than one dollar. And if you're willing to wait, I'll even bring it to you."

BbBbBb

They made the drive in a little more than an hour. Taking main roads and the speed at which Hodgins drove was definitely a factor in that time.

Booth didn't know it, but his message had worked. Brennan and her team had a starting point.

"I think that's them," Cam said, pointing across the parking lot. Near the door, a group of five young men were milling about, their faces brightening as they pointed at the approaching vehicle.

In her bag were five, two hundred dollar gift cards to a popular online store. Angela had suggested the store and Brennan had chosen the amount. The boys had no idea how important their phone call was.

"You actually came," one boy said, stepping forward as they exited the vehicle. "We were just trying to decide how long we should stay."

"I'm glad you waited," Brennan said, reaching into her bag. She turned the cards so the boys could see what store they were from. "Two hundred dollars, for each of you," she said, unable to stop the small smile at the sight of the boys' reaction, "if you can answer one question for me."

The crowd immediately straightened. "Is it hard?" one asked.

"I don't think so," Brennan said. "Where did you see the message?"

"That's it?" the original caller asked, unable to believe this was actually happening. "It's on the back of the bathroom door," he said, pointing vaguely back toward the station. "In the men's room. But you can't see it unless you close the door."

Hodgins and Cam grabbed gear out of the back, while Brennan handed out gift cards to a group of very excited teens. One even spontaneously hugged her, and she even hugged him back. It was out of character for her, but Booth would have approved.

If the cashier was surprised at the group of people stomping their way through the store portion of the station, she didn't show it. It wasn't until they all crowded in the bathroom and closed the door that she looked up in surprise.

"Be the 10th caller at the number below and you will win 01 gift card. Ask for Joy." Hodgins read out loud. The message was followed by Brennan's number. "I can't believe those kids actually called a number from the back of the door. What are parents teaching these days?"

"Their lack of judgement may help us find Booth," Brennan said. "So for that, I'm grateful that their frontal cortex is not fully developed."

Angela snorted and pulled out her camera to take pictures. "Is it from Booth?" she asked Brennan.

Brennan nodded. "It's his handwriting." She'd recognize it anywhere from the reports they'd written together over the years. "But I think he wrote it in a hurry."

"Why would he write one with a zero in front of it?" Cam wondered.

But Brennan had already solved that part of the mystery. "It's the time. He was here at 10:01. About three and a half hours ago," she said after a quick consultation of her watch. "That's why the message indicated the tenth caller."

Cam opened the door again. "I'll go talk to the cashier and see what she has to say."

Angela followed her. "I want to find out about cameras. Maybe we can get pictures of the rest of these guys."

Earlier, Brennan described the man who struck her on the forehead, but despite Angela's best efforts, they hadn't had any better luck with that than they'd had with the gun.

"I wonder where he got the pen from?" Brennan asked. She had an urge to run her hand along the letters, as if doing so would somehow let Booth know they were coming. But it was a ridiculous notion, and she shook her fingers to rid herself of the sensation.

Hodgins shrugged, taking a sample of the marker. He had little hope it would lead them to anything, but it was against his nature to leave evidence behind. "Looks like your standard black marker. Probably found it out in the gas station."

"The cashier remembers them," Angela announced after poking her head back in. "You want to come talk to her?"

Brennan nodded. "I'll be right there." Finally giving in to the urge, she ran her fingers across the writing. Then did it again.

Brow furrowed, she looked back toward Hodgins. "There's something here. Under the writing." Stepping back, she studied the original message. "I can't see it. But I can feel it. Like something was scratched in, then written over with marker."

Hodgins also ran his fingers across the door, then nodded. "Not much, just a couple letters or a word maybe. Might not even be from him. But I feel it, too. Send Angela in for a few more pictures. She should be able to figure it out."

Leaving him in the bathroom, Brennan went to find her friend and request the photos.

"There's no cameras here that work," Angela said after Brennan relayed her request. "But our cashier remembers two people and Booth. She also says there were two more people waiting with the vehicle."

Brennan's eyes darkened. "Four people? That could be possible if the fourth was waiting with the vehicle they brought. There were only three in the woods."

"She saw which way they went," Angela said hopefully. "I'll get the pictures and we can do some plotting on the computer. Maybe we can get the general direction they are going. And maybe Booth will find a way to send us another clue."

Brennan looked past Angela toward the front of the station. Out the window, she could see nothing but forest and trees. "We'll find him. He'll find a way to help us."


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Thanks for being patient, waiting for this update. They should come faster than this in the future. :)_

 _As usual, I don't Bones._

Booth rode silently again after they left the station, contemplating what he was stuck in the middle of. There was the literal interpretation, he was stuck between two men, neither of which were friendly, and the metaphorical. Neither was looking promising for him at that moment.

He wondered if Bones had found the message. That was assuming she wasn't still lying unconscious in the woods, of course, a thought that immediately sent his blood pressure soaring. The man to the left felt Booth tense and shot him a warning glance before turning his attention back out the window.

Knowing he needed to relax, Booth tried counting to ten. Then twenty. Finally giving up at one hundred, he tried taking several slow breaths, which brought down his blood pressure but not the tension. Unless he pushed his luck, or something lucky happened, Booth was running out of options.

He turned his attention toward the exterior of the vehicle. Not that there was much to look at. More trees and few roads. It was going to make finding him that much more difficult. It was clear to Booth that he was being driven to a cabin or house deep in the woods. No witnesses. Plenty of places to hide his body. A hole dug in the middle of the forest and unless the right person stumbled across it, he'd never be found.

Given that the right person was probably Bones, Booth adjusted the odds a bit more in his favor. With her on his side, it was a little bit harder to lose.

Booth was quickly coming to the conclusion that if he wanted to get out of this alive, he was going to have to do it himself, and hope Bones wasn't too far away so she could come get him. She was a beacon and every move he made, dangerous or not, was done to increase the odds of being at her side again.

To think of anything else at that moment was lunacy, but he did take a minute or two to contemplate more than just standing at her side. Waking up by her side would be nice, too. That move depended on his survival, though.

Then there was the message, that crazy message he'd written on the back of a bathroom door. Not since high school, when he'd written several less than appropriate messages about classmates on the walls of the high school bathroom, had he ever done such a thing. People reading it wasn't as big a concern as someone actually calling the number. He'd read numerous messages on walls over the years. Not once had he ever looked for a phone or even written down the number.

And what were the chances someone actually saw the letters and numbers he'd scratched so carefully into the door? They were so light, so faint, the only hope was that someone would feel them, rather than see them. He hadn't dared do more, considering who waited outside the door. Maybe Hodgins would run his fingers along them. Or maybe Angela would capture them in a photograph. Otherwise, there was no hope anyone would see them.

"So," Booth said, breaking the silence. He was sick of the whole thing, of riding in a car with four men he didn't know, of still being in his running clothes, of not having a clue of what was happening. Quite frankly, he was sick of all of it.

The only way to find out more information was to get it out of his fellow passengers. It was time to use some of those people skills Bones always accused him of having. She always seemed a little jealous of his ability, but she could do it, too. He read flesh, body language, and she read their bones. Both were required to make whole person. "We have Rocky and RJ and Mike. Who's the other member of our little gang?"

Rocky's head and eyes darted around the SUV before focusing back on the road. "How the hell does he know our names?" he demanded of the other men.

No one answered and Booth sighed dramatically. "I think it's only fair I know the fourth name. After all, you all seem to know who I am."

Mike snorted. "Of course, we know who you are. Who would've thought kidnapping a cop would be so easy?"

Booth gritted his teeth. It had been easier than it should have been because of Bones. He would have agreed to just about anything to get her out of their alive. He might be able to use their misconceptions to his advantage, if and when he got the chance.

"Shut up," Rocky snapped through gritted teeth. "He doesn't need to know any of this. Our job is to deliver him. Nothing else."

Mike rolled his head toward Rocky. For the first time, Booth sensed a bit of a power struggle between the two men. "He's going to die. What difference does it make if he knows who we are? You worry too much, Rocky."

"And you worry too little," RJ said from the back seat. Reaching forward, he cuffed Mike on the back of the head. The action caused his sleeve to pull up and Booth caught a glimpse of a tattoo on his arm. "Rocky is in charge. We do what Rocky says."

"Why is Rocky in charge?" Booth wondered. "Is he the oldest, or something? Or, perhaps you all met in prison?"

The SUV stopped so suddenly, Booth had to brace his hands on the seats in front of him to keep from flying forward. Slamming it into park, Rocky turned. "How would you know that?"

Booth wondered if it was wise to provoke them, but was willing to take a chance on them not killing him, again. One of these times, if he wasn't careful, they just might call him on that.

Reaching forward, he grabbed RJ's arm and pulled his sleeve up, revealing the tattoo. Angrily, RJ pulled his arm away. "That's a gang tattoo from a prison," Booth explained unnecessarily. They all knew what it was. "I bet if the rest of you pull your sleeves up, you all have something similar. Just because you think it was easy to get to me, doesn't mean I am bad at my job."

"You were easy to get to," Mike said with a smile. He opened his mouth to add something else, but fell silent when he saw the look on Rocky's face.

A muscle in Rocky's jaw twitched as he stared at Booth. But, as before, Rocky was the first to look away. "Everyone out of the car," he ordered.

A sense of dread in his stomach, Booth wondered if they were going to shoot him right there, and disappear. There was no way he could get out of the car before they shot him, but if they let him out of the vehicle first, he might be able to use the trees for cover and give himself a fighting chance.

Instead, after the man on the driver's side exited, Rocky stuck his head in. "Stay in the car," he ordered. "One foot outside and I shoot you. There's lots of places I can hit that won't kill you before we're done with you."

Not waiting for a response, all four doors slammed, leaving Booth in the rapidly warming interior. It figured that Rocky hadn't been dumb enough to leave the keys in the ignition. Nor was he dumb enough to completely turn his back, preventing Booth from searching for weapons or anything else he could use.

For a few minutes, Booth was entertained with the rather heated argument taking place just in front of the SUV. Mike's hands were rapidly moving through the air and Rocky shook his head in response. RJ and the yet unnamed fourth man stood to the side with their arms crossed, staring at Booth.

Sure Rocky was reprimanding his crew for even talking to Booth, Booth filled the dialogue in for himself. Not that there appeared to be much. After a moment, the only who appeared to be doing the talking was Rocky. In the silence, Booth managed to catch the words cabin, shot, and brother before the argument ended and Rocky began to talk too quietly to catch anything at all.

Soon, Booth found himself slouching in the seat, bringing his feet up to stretch them out. It was maneuvering himself into this position that brought his attention to the floor of the SUV.

And the cellphone resting to his left.

Knowing he had a limited amount of time, Booth's mind began to rapid fire through scenarios. How to get the phone. What to do when he had it. All considered in what felt like the blink of an eye.

From the position he was in, it raised no suspicions when he slouched down even more, allowing him to reach the floor with his left hand. A quick tap and the phone came to life.

Booth was surprised to see a weak signal. Given their location, he'd expected nothing at all. Thankful it was a model of phone similar to his own, Booth quickly opened the messaging app and sent a brief one to the number he knew as well as his own. Probably better since he never called his own number.

He was careful to never look down for too long, always keeping his attention on the men outside the vehicle. At one point, two of them stepped into the trees, leaving even fewer eyes watching Booth. Not daring to press his luck by sending more, Booth erased the record of the sent message, exited the app and shut off the volume. The last thing he needed was Bones sending a message back at an inopportune time.

As the men began to approach the vehicle, Booth dropped it into the seat pocket. Hopefully when it was discovered to be missing, the owner would assume he'd placed it there and forgotten, pushing any suspicion away from Booth.

He was sitting in the middle with his eyes closed when the door reopened. Opening only one, he watch as Mike sat in the driver's seat, rather than Rocky. Instead, the apparent leader now sat next to Booth in the back.

"Tired?" Booth asked, faking a yawn. "We've been on the road quite awhile."

Rocky smiled, but it was grim, rather than amused. "A few more hours until the end of that road," he said and chuckled. "In more ways than one."


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: I must apologize for the ridiculously long time between updates, but sometimes life, responsibilities and the muse (or lack of one) tend to get in the way. However, it's long past time to get Booth away from these people and out of the woods. So that's what we're going to do. And I have multiple chapters ready so there will be more updates this week._

"Can you look at the picture a little faster?" Brennan asked, pacing nervously back and forth. The team had left the parking lot behind to return to the lab, despite Brennan's misgivings. She hadn't wanted to drive the opposite direction of where Booth was last seen.

But Angela had argued that her best equipment was back at the lab, along with the scans of various databases she'd started before leaving. Yes, it was hard to go the opposite direction, but their best chance at getting the information they needed, unfortunately, was behind them, not in front of them.

But Brennan couldn't shake the fear that they were running out of time. If Booth made an attempt to escape, Brennan desperately needed to be there to pick him up before he made a fatal decision.

"Sure, sweetie," Angela said. She shot Cam a concerned glance, but moved to her computers to do what her friend had asked. The tension in all of them was suffocating, but Brennan's was the worst, and she was making little effort to hide it. That made it even worse. Usually, Brennan held it together the best of any of them. "Let's get this started. I should be able to get some information from the pictures, if there is anything to find."

Angela used her equipment to scan the picture and bring it up on a large screen in her office. Brennan, forced to stop pacing in order to watch, stood in a semi-circle with the rest of the team behind Angela.

"You said you felt something beneath the message?" Angela asked. She already knew the answer, but the tense silence was making her uncomfortable.

"Yes, here," Brennan said, reaching past Angela to indicate a spot on the screen. "Neither Hodgins, nor I could see them, but they could be felt, just barely, when we ran our hands over the door. They might be nothing but scratches, but I didn't want to assume."

Angela found a smile. "Of course, you wouldn't assume anything." A few clicks later, Angela had manipulated the image on the screen. Now visible under the original message, was a series of letters and numbers. "What is that?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"A license plate," Cam answered immediately. When the team turned to her, she shrugged. "I was a cop for years, I'd recognize a plate anywhere."

"Damn, Booth," Hodgins said. "That's one hell of a clue." He shook his head at the bravado of the FBI agent.

"And one hell of a chance to take," Cam commented, equally impressed. "Way to go, Booth."

Quickly inputting the information, Angela hit enter, only to have multiple sounds start simultaneously. She quickly silenced those that came from the computer, to leave a single one remaining.

"It's my cellphone," Brennan said, tapping her pocket. "What were your alarms?"

"Check it," Cam said. "It could be Booth."

Doubtful, Brennan pulled out the phone. "I programmed a tone in for Booth. It's not that." Still, she brought the phone to life and quickly pulled up the single message there.

A quick movement of her eyes, and she handed the phone to Angela. "I was mistaken," she said as an explanation.

Hodgins blinked. "Booth sent you a text?"

"Not from his phone. It's short. It states that he is okay and we are to track the phone he sent it from," Brennan explained, her voice a little less tense. He was alive. She'd analyze exactly what feelings were rushing through her body later.

They still had work to do.

Ignoring the silenced alarms for a moment, Angela quickly accessed the information from the phone. "There's no signal from it at the moment, not surprising considering the location of the gas station. I'll pull up a map."

Seconds later the image appeared, the last location of the phone indicated by a blinking yellow dot.

"Not much help there," Angela said. "Let's see what the other alarm is."

An image appeared on a second screen. "It appears our sketch got a hit." Angela arranged both images next to each other on the screen.

"That's him," Brennan confirmed. "He's the individual who struck me on the head.

"Kevin Peniard," Cam read from the screen. "Mean anything to anyone?"

"Yes," Brennan said. "The last name at least."

Hodgins snapped his fingers. "The dentist. The victim from the Civil War battlefield. Wasn't he a dentist?"

Brennan nodded. "Explains those perfect teeth. His brother probably fixed them for him."

"But that makes no sense," Hodgins argued. "He was the victim, not the killer. What issue could he possibly have with us? Or have with Booth?"

Shaking her head, Brennan looked around the room, clearly having no idea, but not willing to admit it. Angela also shrugged, but Cam looked deep in thought, her eyes focused on a point just past Angela's screens.

Feeling the eyes on her, Cam brought herself back into the room. "Check his financials. Money is always a good motivator."

"It will take a few minutes," Angela said reluctantly, dreading Brennan's reaction to the fact.

But surprisingly, her best friend nodded her head. "It's okay, Angela. Just do what needs to be done. I, or we, have to trust that Booth is doing what needs to be done, so we are going to do the same."

Turning on her heel, Brennan left the room. Angela and Cam shared a concerned glance. It took less than a minute for Angela to set up her computer to work without her and go to find her best friend.

Which wasn't that hard to do. When Brennan was upset or needed to work through something, Limbo had always been her go to place.

Angela found her staring at a set of remains, her brow furrowed in concentration. "You okay, sweetie?" Angela asked, pulling up a chair to sit in. To her, Limbo had a haunted, sad feel to it, and it was a place she avoided coming to alone.

"I never used to wonder what happened to these skeletons. How they ended up where they were found. No family to identify them; forgotten for years, or decades." Brennan said softly as she picked up a femur and traced her finger down the bone. "It was my job simply to identify them, to give them back the one thing I could."

"A name," Angela supplied. "You could give them a name."

Brennan nodded before placing the femur back and picking up its mate from the other side of the skeleton. "Sometimes I could give any family that was left answers. If it was a soldier, I could perhaps supply where he or she was found deceased, which often corresponded to a battle or a fallen aircraft. It is never much, but I always give all the information I can."

"What does this have to do with Booth?" Angela asked, curious why Brennan was telling her these things.

"This skeleton, for example," Brennan continued, ignoring the question, "is a female between the ages of twenty and thirty. She suffered no broken bones in her life. There are almost no clues to her identity." Brennan turned the bone over in her hands again before placing it back down. "I would estimate the skeleton has been in the ground at least seventy years."

Angela crossed her legs at the ankle and settled back in the chair. Brennan would say what she needed to at her own pace.

"That's what happens to people. They get in a car, they are forced into a car, they go out the door to get groceries, and they disappear. It was easier seventy years ago to disappear than it is today, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. And people look and look for as long as they're capable, but eventually a person must move on, no matter how much it hurts. Sometimes, you simply cannot find what you are looking for. And decades from now a body is found, but there is no one left who can tell you who they were. No one is left who is still looking."

Angela shook her head, denying what Brennan was saying. "We'll find Booth, Brennan. We won't stop looking until we do. Even if it takes longer than today, longer than tomorrow. I know you, and I know Booth. Neither of you would ever give up, will ever give up. We will find him."

"You don't know that," Brennan said softly. "Logically, none of us know that."

Coming forward, Angela put her hand over Brennan's. "I know you," she said confidently. "And I know Booth. You'll find each other," she said, squeezing Brennan's hand before her friend pulled away.

"I'm not lost," Brennan argued.

"Of course, you are," Angela said with a sad smile. "Or at least you were. You were lost for a long time. But I found you and then Booth found you. He just didn't know he was looking, and you didn't know you were hiding. But he found you just the same."

"You aren't making any sense," Brennan said, bringing her had up to rub at her head. "Maybe I should go rest for a few minutes. Perhaps my confusion is due to my head injury."

"Your head's fine, Brennan. Just trust me on this. We'll find Booth. Then he'll finish finding you."


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: As promised, here is the second update this week. Thanks for all the favorites, follows, and reviews. As usual, I don't own Bones, otherwise there'd be twelve more seasons._

When it started to rain, Booth smiled. The clouds had looked threatening for some time, a somber reflection of Booth's mood. They had traveled even deeper into the woods, eventually turning onto roads made of dirt. The terrain had forced them to slow; the rain would make the path even more difficult to travel.

Each second isolated him even more, driving home the point of how perilous his position was. It was time, Booth knew, to find a way out of this situation.

But fighting was a hopeless proposition, especially against four men, all significantly better armed. Which left him once clear option, sneaking away into the trees.

Also not the best option, but the only one available to him at the moment. Gathering his will around him, he stared out the window, looking for markers, signs, anything that indicated where he was. Anything that would give him a clue on the quickest path back to civilization.

But all he saw were trees. And more trees. Tall trees and short trees. Green trees and dead trees.

Damn trees, anyway.

To walk away would leave him very isolated, miles from civilization. But to stay was riskier.

So he'd take his chances among the trees. At least they didn't shoot back.

It wasn't long before the showers turned torrential, and Booth was proven correct. First the wipers couldn't keep up, then the tires began to spin. The trail narrowed and muddied to a point it appeared the SUV could travel no farther.

It didn't stop their driver from trying several times before slamming his hand against the wheel in frustration.

"We're stuck," Mike said, putting the vehicle in park. "We aren't going to make it any closer in this weather with this vehicle. We should have taken something smaller."

"Or parked some ATVs nearby," was the grumbled comment from the man next to him. "We're at least two miles from the cabin. I thought you'd been up here recently, Rocky."

Booth now wondered if the cabin was Rocky's? And how he'd afforded it if it was. The man certainly didn't look like he was swimming in a pool filled with cash.

Just when he thought he was figuring things out, some comment was made that confused him even more. They'd indicated they'd kidnapped him for another man. Was that the truth? Or had Rocky lied to the rest of them to persuade them to go along with some crazy scheme?

And if Rocky was really the head honcho of this charade, what had Booth done to piss him off so?

Which made no sense either. Rocky could have easily killed both him and Bones back on the trail they'd been running that morning. It had certainly been isolated enough to commit murder. Yet he'd forced Booth into the SUV.

No, Booth decided, Rocky was working for someone else. The question was who.

Glaring at them from the backseat, Rocky made no comment. He glanced out the window, at Booth, then at the other men in the vehicle. "Outside," he ordered the other three men. "You-" he began, motioning at Booth.

Booth couldn't resist rolling his eyes. "Let me guess, stay in the vehicle?" It was just the opportunity he'd been waiting for.

"I'm not going out in the torrential rain to talk to you," Mike argued from his position in the front. "Whatever you have to say, say it right here where it's warm and dry."

"We have to hike to the cabin anyway. Might as well get wet now," Rocky replied calmly.

Fascinated, and a little amused, Booth flicked his eyes back and forth between the two men.

Turning in his seat, Mike fingered the gun he'd tucked in his waistband. "Let's just shoot him right here."

RJ snorted. "Go ahead. But you get to drag his dead weight the last two miles to the cabin. Let him walk there and then we'll shoot him. Less work that way. And we want the rest of our money."

Confirmation, as far as Booth was concerned, that Rocky and his crew were doing someone else's dirty work.

Mike glared. "I'm not getting wet."

"Get out," Rocky said, his voice turning cold. "I could just as easily shoot each of you. And I won't have to drag you to the cabin after I do. I could just leave you in the vehicle. It will be years before anyone finds you out here."

Knowing Bones, Booth doubted it would take years. In fact, he hoped it wouldn't take more than twelve hours.

Taking a life was not something Booth did lightly. But right at that moment, he wouldn't have minded a gun fight between the men in the vehicle.

As long as he had a chance to get out of the way first.

Grumbling followed, but the men exited the vehicle, pulling coats and collars up against the driving rain. Despite their efforts it wasn't long before they were soaked.

Watching the men, Booth had no intention of staying put. Several of them pointed further up the trail, giving a direction Booth figured was the location of the cabin. And a hint on which way not to go when he was away from this circus.

If the end game was his death, he wasn't going to make it easy for the crew outside. In fact, he planned to make their job impossible. It was time to make his escape.

Reaching carefully into the pocket of the seat, he pulled out the phone his captor hadn't yet realized he'd lost. There was no signal, and the battery was weak, but it was better than nothing.

Not seeing anything else he could quickly grab, Booth waited for the perfect moment. He'd only need second and prayed the idiots in front of him would give it to him.

And, of course, they did.

They turned their backs simultaneously, all looking further up the hill, but that was all it took for Booth to quietly open the door and exit the vehicle. The rain muffled the sound of his movements and he gave thanks to Mother Nature for her well timed help. Just as quietly, and just as quickly, the door was pushed closed behind him and Booth crept behind the vehicle. He used it as a shield to sneak further away from the men and disappear into the woods.

With the rain and his lack of appropriate attire, it wasn't long before Booth was shivering. And miserable. Mother Nature could stop the rain now. But he pushed the feeling to the back of his mind. He'd been through worse than this. His goal for the moment was to get as far away as fast as he could. Movement provided a way to keep him warm.

The shouts behind him came sooner than he wanted them to, and he forced himself to move faster. But faster made the footing more precarious and several times he slipped on the wet leaves that covered the ground. Knowing a twisted ankle would kill him, he slowed his pace again.

Booth stayed near the road for as long as he dared, figuring it would take several minutes to back the SUV back down the trail. He'd already lost sight of the trail behind him, and knew he was not visible to the men. The rain disguised the sound of his trip through the trees, but made it much harder for him to hide his footprints, no matter how lightly he tried to step.

His white t-shirt was also a beacon in the damp, brown trees and despite knowing it would only make him colder, Booth stopped long enough to rub mud on himself. It wasn't much, but the camouflage would help hide him.

Booth estimated at least thirty minutes had passed before he heard something that sounded like the SUV. Checking the actual time on the stolen cell phone seemed a waste of the little battery that was left. Abandoning the road, he moved deeper into the trees, hiding amongst some brush. The branches tore at his bare skin, adding rivulets of blood to the water and mud already there.

Tracking the vehicle with his eyes only, not daring to move even an inch, he watched the SUV move slowly down the muddy road, clearly looking for him. It slowed several times, but never stopped, and Booth took a shuddering breath when he could no longer view it from his hiding spot.

Despite the cold ground and the rain, he didn't move until he could no longer hear the vehicle in the distance. Finally standing, his body stiff, Booth wiped some of the rain away from his eyes, staring in the direction the SUV had disappeared. With it in front of him now, rather than behind him, Booth moved cautiously back toward the road. Knowing he had no choice but to keep walking, Booth ducked his head, and continued in the pouring rain.


	8. Chapter 8

The sound of heels clicking rapidly on the floor woke Brennan from her nap. She'd fallen asleep on the couch in her office, refusing to leave, despite Angela's best efforts.

She'd dreamed of Booth. Disjointed, terrifying dreams of not being able to find him, to rescue him. Of watching him get into vehicles and disappear into the distance.

Of digging up graves and finding bodies with his face staring back at her.

Of running through tunnels and opening doors, only to see nothing on the other side.

It was a relief to see Angela standing in front of her. Only to have dread set in that she'd found something terrible.

"Did you find something?" Brennan asked, rubbing her head gently. She still had a mild headache and knew it probably wasn't going away anytime soon.

"I pulled the financials on our dead dentist and his brother. I also pulled some property records. The dentist, before his death, owned a cabin. A very isolated cabin deep in the mountains." Angela settled into the couch next to her. Getting off her feet, even for a moment, felt great.

"Did the brother inherit it?" Brennan asked.

Angela nodded. "He did. But I doubt he can afford it. The taxes on the place are rather expensive and I can't find any record of Kevin having a job. Appears to have been living off his brother's inheritance, which by the looks of the bank account, is running out."

"So," Brennan said, trying to work it out in her head. Booth was always much better at this sort of thing. "The brother is running out of money. Someone, we don't know who, approaches him and offers to pay him to kidnap Booth? Maybe, for a little extra money, Kevin offers his cabin in the woods for whatever their purpose is?"

"That's what Cam thought, too," Angela agreed. "Kevin did have a rather large deposit in his account about a month ago. It was enough to pay the taxes on the cabin for the next year, with enough left over to live on for some time. Booth was worth quite a bit of money to someone."

Brennan rose quickly. "We need to get to that cabin."

Sighing, Angela grabbed her hand and pulled her back down. "We can't. At least, not yet."

Eyes narrowing, Brennan waited for an explanation. She certainly wasn't expecting Angela to stand in her way.

"It started to pour an hour ago. It's torrential, Brennan. Some streets are flooding. The cabin is so isolated, there is nothing more than a trail to get to it after the roads end. We can't drive to it, or fly a helicopter to it. We might be able to walk to it, but in this weather…," her voice trailed off as she shrugged her shoulders.

"But we need to get up there," Brennan argued, refusing to accept anything was impossible at this point. Angela hadn't totally ruled out hiking. If that's what it took, that's what she'd do.

Booth would do the same for her.

"And we will, sweetie. As soon as the weather breaks. But on a positive note, the people who kidnapped Booth aren't going to make it either."

"How long?" Brennan asked, tapping her foot impatiently. "How long before the weather breaks?" There had to be a way to get to her partner. To get to Booth.

"Twelve hours. Probably tomorrow morning is what the weather people are saying. With the rain, it's going to get dark soon. We can leave now and wait nearby, but we aren't going to get close, Bren."

Angela blinked, but didn't react when Brennan said something Angela was sure she'd never heard come out of her mouth before. In fact, even after, she wasn't sure she'd heard her correctly.

Feeling like she was losing an argument, Angela sighed. There was little doubt in her mind, in Hodgins' either, since she'd already discussed it with him, that they'd be hiking in the pouring rain to Booth.

Hodgins and Cam were already gathering supplies.

"I can't leave him up there all night, Angela. If the roles were reversed, he would come to get me."

"You aren't abandoning him, Brennan. We know where he is, where he could be come morning. You have to trust that Booth can do something to keep himself alive for the next twelve hours. He's not going to give up."

There was no mistaking the word when it left Brennan's mouth the second time.

Frustrated, Brennan made her way back to the couch and sat down on the edge of it. "So what am I supposed to do? Wait?"

Angela swallowed hard to keep from laughing aloud. Was there anything Brennan was worse at? Maybe seeing or acknowledging what she felt for Booth, but waiting was definitely in the top five. Angela finally just gave up. At least, if they were in the SUV, they'd be moving.

"Grab some stuff. Pack. Hodgins and Cam already are. We'll meet you at the vehicle in twenty so we can start driving. It's going to take longer in the rain."

Nodding, Brennan rose to her feet again, only to pause and reach for her phone when it started to ring. If she hadn't been thinking about what to pack, worrying so much for Booth, she might have thought to check the caller ID before she answered. Despite the fact it came from an unfamiliar number, her vigilant mind would have recognized it instantly.

"Bones?" Booth managed through a jaw clenched tight against his chattering teeth. He hadn't wanted to acknowledge it, but since leaving her unconscious in the woods, he'd feared he left her there to die. Hearing her voice released the band that had been squeezing his chest since that morning.

"Booth!" she all but shouted in answer, motioning frantically at Angela. But she should have known the gesture was unnecessary. Her friend was already on her feet, heading for her office.

Remembering she was on a portable device, Brennan followed her. "Where are you?" she asked desperately. "Are you okay?"

"C-C-Cold," Booth managed. "But okay. This d-d-damn rain isn't helping. At least, not anymore."

"Where are you?" Brennan demanded. Booth was cold, probably hypothermic. Her mind was already calculating time, estimating how long he could keep going before the cold would stop him.

At the other end of the phone, Booth looked around him. "Not sure. It's dark here, but I didn't dare stop until I had a signal. I'm trying to stay close to the road, but I lost sight of it a little while ago."

Brennan pulled the phone away for just a second. "Do you have him?" she asked Angela. "He doesn't know where he is."

Sounds of frustration and frantic clicks were the only response. Finally, Angela nodded. "He's here," she said, a red circle appearing on the screen. "Not that there's anything there. He's as isolated as he can get."

Booth groaned, Angela's words clear through the phone. "I've been walking for quite a while, trying to get a signal. If I leave this spot, I'll lose it again."

"Can we get to him?" Brennan asked. She had serious concerns about him surviving the night in the rain.

"I'm fine," Booth reassured her. "I can survive the night here," he said, clearly reading her thoughts. "How are you?" But his chattering teeth gave him away. Surviving was dicey at best.

"Booth," she said, "you have a very good chance of dying of hypothermia in the woods tonight. I should be the least of your concerns."

And that tone of voice chased the rest of his concerns for her away.

"But," she said, softening her voice. The last hours allowed her to understand exactly how he felt. "I really am fine. Don't waste any of your energy worrying about me."

Easy for her to say. Thoughts of her had been a shadow in the back of his mind the entire day. He'd tried not to think about it, about her, but it had been hard.

Stomping his feet, Booth turned in small circles, trying to move without actually moving. He was terrified to take one step in the wrong direction and lose his only connection to Bones.

Her voice turned brisk again. "We need to get to you. And quickly."

"And how do you plan to do that?' Booth asked. "I heard Angela. I'm pretty much impossible to get to in this rain."

Brennan had turned her back to Angela, and when she turned, Angela was handing her a coat. Taking it with a tilt of her head, Angela pointed toward the map. "He's here," she began, loud enough so Booth could hear her, too. "We can drive to here. That will leave us a three mile hike up this road slash trail slash animal path in the dark and the rain."

Voice grim, but accepting, Angela shook her head, and turning to her friend, she managed a smile. "Anyone else would tell you this is crazy. I want to tell you this is crazy. Instead, I'm telling you Cam and Hodgins are waiting for us in the SUV."

"No!" Booth shouted in the background. "Don't come up here now. We don't know where my kidnappers went. It's raining and it's dark. You have a concussion. Stay warm and dry."

Hearing Booth's plea, Angela snorted and went to change her shoes. Brennan quickly moved to follow her. "Stay where you are, Booth," she ordered, ignoring his vehement protests. "We're coming to get you."


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: To the reviewer who asked if they should call the FBI for help - of course, they should. They should call the FBI and the Marines and anyone else who would come. But this is fanfiction, and that would ruin all the fun. :)_

 _Thanks for all the reviews and follows, many more than I expected. And to all the people reading and commenting on some of my older work, I appreciate that as well. As usual, I don't own Bones._

Booth paced. Ten steps one direction. Ten steps back. Turn ninety degrees. Repeat. Ignore the rain. Ignore the cold. Hang on to the annoyance, to the anger at his reckless partner for coming out in the rain to rescue his sorry ass. Putting herself at risk to save him. Again.

Whether he deserved that risk was another question. He'd been forced to leave his unconscious partner in the woods. Sure, it had been to save her life, but it bothered him. And now that he had time to think about it, it was even harder for him to deal with. Bones would, of course, tell him he'd done what was necessary and in his mind he knew that. His heart was just taking a little longer to get on board.

The fact that he was in love with her didn't make it any easier. It was easy to admit those feelings in the isolation of the forest. He could say the words aloud and no one would hear them. If no one, other than Booth heard, were they actually true. Or did something only become fact when you shared it with another?

Nope, he decided, the fact was that he was in love with Bones. Pretty dumb time to come to that realization, lost in the woods freezing to death.

And he was freezing to death. He was still shivering, which was a good sign, but he could feel his movements become just a little bit more clumsy than he was used to. He was going to have to make a choice, and soon.

He didn't dare go more than ten steps in any direction, at least for the moment. It was too dark to see much, or anything. Before darkness had temporarily erased his surroundings from view, he'd ascertained he was in a small clearing. Surrounded by trees. Trees that hid and sheltered everything around him.

And hid everything from him. He hadn't heard a vehicle in what he figured was hours and assumed his kidnappers had headed for dry quarters until morning.

But if they hadn't…if they were waiting somewhere down the road or on a path, there was no telling what could happen. Not being able to protect Bones for the second time that day was killing him.

His shoes squished as he paced back and forth. His cold hands generated no warmth as he rubbed them briskly up and down him arms. Despite his annoyance with Bones, he was forced to agree with her. Surviving the night in this weather would be possible, but ugly. There was a part of him that was relieved she was coming for him.

Booth had known as soon as he dialed her number that she would.

His reckless, crazy, gorgeous partner. When he finally had time to sleep, Booth had no doubt the nightmares would come. He'd left her behind to save her life, but it had almost killed him.

He would keep himself alive until she got there. So much for his ten step rule.

Rules, in his mind, were made to be broken.

Darkness made it almost impossible. And the inability to go very far from his current position didn't give him a lot of options. Bones and Angela had his location; he had to stay close to that to allow them to find him. But he managed to find a small stack of fallen branches he could crouch beneath. It didn't provide much shelter from the rain, but at least a few less drops were hitting him on the head. And for a moment, he could wrap his arms around his knees and pretend he was warm.

Dampness and cold were its own form of torture. He fought to keep his chattering teeth from crashing against each other. Stories of men lost in the cold, teeth shattered from constantly banging against each other were something he was familiar with. There was no way that was happening to him.

Rubbing his fingers down his wet legs, Booth sensed the skin had begun to pucker from the constant exposure to the moisture. It worried him that it was difficult for him to feel the sensation of his fingers touching the bare skin. Hurriedly, he exited his shelter and began to march in place, swinging his arms around him in a windmill fashion to force blood to his fingertips.

In his head, Bones' voice talked to him. Encouraged him to keep moving. She was on her way, no matter what he said. Intermixed with her voice were other things that were less likely to happen. Like her pressing her very warm lips to his very cold skin. Immediately followed by her wrapping him in a very warm blanket. Maybe she'd join him and they could share body heat.

If he hadn't been clenching his jaw to keep his teeth from chattering, he might have laughed.

Resigned to spending the next several hours in the dark, Booth crouched in his very leaky shelter. Bones was coming. He would wait.

As if he had a choice.

BbBbBb

They made two stops. The first was to Brennan's apartment to retrieve the gun Booth pretended she didn't have. When she returned to the car, she made no attempt to hide it, and several glances were exchanged among the other members of the rescue party. But not one of them said a thing.

After carefully checking it over, she stored it within easy reach. If she had been a praying woman, she would have sent one hoping the weapon wasn't needed. However, she was a practical woman, so the gun was where Brennan could access it in a hurry.

The second was to a supply store. Hodgins had made a quick call and the store was open to them, long after it should have closed. He pulled out a black credit card and in no time at all, the four of them had all the gear they could possibly need for a nighttime hike on a dark, rainy night.

Brennan added extra gear for Booth, knowing he was cold, wet and probably starving. He'd whine about the protein bars, but they were the easiest thing to carry that would give him the most energy.

"I hope the Blair Witch isn't out in this weather," Hodgins commented as they made a mad dash back to the SUV. Bags were hurriedly thrown in the vehicle, as they scrambled in and continued to make their way to Booth.

"Who's the Blair Witch?" Brennan asked, not that she really cared at the moment.

"Witch, lived in the woods, killed people," Hodgins summarized quickly, driving faster than safe out of the parking lot.

"Imaginary creatures are the least of our worries," Brennan commented coolly. "We have enough flesh and blood creatures to worry about." She peered through the rain soaked windshield, the worry clear on her face. No matter how hard she tried to be logical, Booth being in danger made it so much more difficult to guard her heart.

Staring into the darkness, Brennan ticked off the immediate concerns in her head.

He wasn't dressed for the weather.

It was pouring, with the temperature falling through the fifties.

He was miles off the main road, only accessible by foot.

Oh, and just to make things more exciting, men with guns were out there somewhere, too.

Her fingers tapped a nervous pattern on her leg, an outward sign of her stress. Brennan refused to think about the headache that hadn't quite left, or the fact that she hadn't eaten in hours. Booth was going through much worse, and her complaints paled in comparison. He'd tell her it was important to keep her strength up. In fact, knowing Booth, he'd probably be annoyed she hadn't eaten most of the day. It wouldn't matter that she'd been too busy looking for him.

Despite the circumstances, she almost smiled.

The GPS Angela had programmed was in plain view on the dash. The time to destination was already too long as far as Brennan was concerned, and the speed slowing rain had the counter going up at times, rather than down. But the weather and the time of day had cleared the road of traffic and Hodgins made decent time getting to the last accessible road.

Pulling over, Hodgins put the vehicle in park. "This is as far as we go," he said unnecessarily. They'd left the main road behind an hour ago, and this last had been almost impassible. But Hodgins proved he was the best choice of driver by forcing the SUV to travel several roads the others wouldn't have dared.

The rain pounded the top of the SUV and Angela groaned as she exited the vehicle and opened the back of the SUV. "This is nuts," she muttered as she sorted through their gear.

"Of course it is," Cam agreed, joining Angela in the back. "But we're going to do it anyway."

"If she doesn't admit she loves him at the end of this, I'm going to kidnap both of them and lock them in an isolated cabin together," she threatened softly.

Cam snorted. "You won't need the isolated cabin. I don't think they'll let each other out of sight for a week. I can't promise the love thing, though."

Angela nodded and quit talking when Brennan joined them.

The open hatch kept them dry as they layered waterproof gear over warmer clothes. The supplies for Booth were packed into a waterproof bag and Hodgins shrugged it on before putting a larger coat over it to provided even more protection.

Each carried flashlights and cell phones with copies of Angela's map downloaded to it. In the pocket of Brennan's coat was the gun, along with extra ammunition.

"We don't know how many people are up here, and not all of them are friendly," Cam said as she quietly closed the back of the SUV. "Stay together and keep your eyes open."

The four of them looked at each other grimly, rain already running down their gear, before Brennan finally spoke. "Let's go find, Booth."

BbBbBb

Down the road, on a path almost impossible to see, Rocky snapped awake to an elbow hitting him in the ribs. Rubbing his eyes as he sat up from where he'd been slouched since they'd hidden the SUV hours before, he looked toward Mike.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Vehicle went past about ten minutes ago and parked up the road. Light just went off. I think they might be heading to pick up our guy."

"Good," Rocky said. "That will make our job a whole lot easier. Gear up, guys. We're going hunting."


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: The number of followers and likes and reviews are greatly appreciated and very stressful as I'm terrified of disappointing you with each new chapter. This one is a little longer than the rest, but I liked the flow and didn't want to break it up._

 _I hope you continue to enjoy._

The way was treacherous. There was no path and the rescue party was forced to make their own, tripping over fallen branches and slipping on wet leaves. There was no talking amongst the group; all of their concentration went toward finding a secure place to put one foot in front of the other.

Hodgins led the way, somehow determining the correct path. Brennan wanted to lead, to be the one to find Booth, but she logically knew she couldn't be in charge of that and the gun. The only other member of the group with any weapons training was Cam and it had been some time since she'd been on the shooting range. For the moment, it was up to Brennan to save their lives if it came to that.

"We need to stop," Hodgins said, pulling a waterproof map from his pocket. That was followed by what looked like a compass. He and Angela studied the map as Brennan watched Cam study the darkness around them.

"Do you feel that?" Cam asked, looking around her.

"The rain?" Brennan responded literally. "It's all I've noticed since we exited the vehicle."

But Cam shook her head. "I hate nature."

Brennan tilted her head. "Is that what you feel?" she asked, having difficulty following the conversation.

Ahead of them, Hodgins and Angela had apparently come to some sort of consensus as he refolded the map and put it back in his pocket. "We've got about a mile to go," he called back to them.

Cam looked at him, her dark eyes concerned. "We need to get going."

"I'm sure Booth is as fine as he can be," Angela said reassuringly. "He has all that training, after all."

Brennan nodded, but the concern was still in her eyes. "He's cold and wet. No dry wood to start a fire, not that he'd dare. Under any other circumstances, I would agree…" her voice trailing off, she shrugged.

"Are you okay, Cam?" Angela asked, noticing how quiet she'd become.

Looking behind her before answering, Cam finally responded. "I have a horrible feeling that Booth isn't who we should be worried about right now."

BbBbBb

He saw the lights first. Four pinpoints of brightness in the unrelenting darkness. He wanted to shout to them, but his constant shivering and an overwhelming sense of caution kept him quiet.

So he waited, and watched as they slipped and climbed their way to him.

Angela spotted him first, her flashlight moving past him then back, as his white skin reflected in the light. Her joyous cry had all four lights focused on him and he closed his eyes to protect them.

"Put your lights down," he said, holding his hands up now. "I can't see a thing."

All four lights immediately dropped to his feet and Booth cautiously opened his eyes again.

"Booth," Brennan said and despite the crowd and her own reticence, she moved forward and hugged him.

"Hey, Bones," he said. "I'm okay." And despite the interested glances he could see over her shoulder, he pulled her a little tighter. He could convince himself it was because he was so cold, but knew it was more than that.

She was solid and whole and real. Booth had feared she was lying when she'd said she was okay. Bones didn't typically lied, but he had a feeling she would if her goal was to protect him.

"You're warm," he said with a little laugh, relishing the feel of her in his arms. Even through her damp coat, Booth could feel the heat radiating from her.

The rain had slowed almost to the point of stopping and Booth ducked his head a little closer to Bones' neck, relieved to no longer have the cold water pelting him on the head. "Are you okay, Bones?" he asked softly.

She nodded and pulled back so he could see her face as she said the words. "I'm fine. Woke up not long after you disappeared. Just a little headache now. That's all."

He finally let go and met the eyes staring at the two of them. Angela's face was smug and knowing. What she thought, Booth didn't want to imagine. "Thanks for coming. Even though you shouldn't have."

"We have warm clothes for you," Brennan said, motioning to Hodgins. Concerned, she had taken her gloves off to run her hands over his bare skin. "Your body temperature is low and we need to get it closer to normal."

Under any other circumstances that skin against his would have been enough to raise his temperature, but at that moment, he could barely feel it. "Warm clothes would be great," he chattered, reaching toward Hodgins to grab the offered sweatshirt.

Quick movements had his wet t-shirt off and Booth hissed a sigh as the warm, dry cloth touched his skin. Brennan teased him for his Puritan modesty when he refused to pull the wet shorts off, choosing instead to pull the sweats on over the top.

"We brought you dry shoes, too," Hodgins said, handing over a pair of hiking boots. "And socks as well."

"You knew my size?" Booth asked, surprised.

But Brennan rolled her eyes. "Of course, I did," she said, offended that he'd thought anything less.

Booth was deciding whether to leave his wet stuff where he'd thrown in on the ground when a popping noise in the distance drew his attention. Despite his tired brain, he recognized what it was.

"Down!" he yelled, grabbing Bones and pulling her down with him.

The other four dropped at his yell, listening without recognizing the command. The tone of his voice was enough.

Only to realize exactly why he was yelling when the bullet hit a tree to their left with a thunk.

Looking around, Booth could see from the flashlights that his friends were okay. Unfortunately, that meant whatever else was out there could see them as well.

"Turn off the lights," he hissed and they were plunged into darkness.

"Here," Bones said next to him, pushing something into his hand.

He recognized it immediately and was glad she couldn't see the annoyed look on his face. "You brought a gun?"

"Of course, I brought a gun," she snapped. "Armed men kidnapped you. You need a weapon."

"Where did you get this from? This isn't my gun, is it?" Booth had no idea how she'd figured out the combination to his gun safe, but if she wanted to, he had no doubt she would.

"It's my gun. I told you I had one." It wasn't her fault he'd been distracted at the time she'd mentioned it.

"Fine," he grunted, knowing arguing was useless. "Is it loaded?"

She huffed an annoyed sigh. "Yes, and the safety's on."

Booth ran his hands over it, getting a feel for the weapon. He was already pissed that his clean, dry clothes were getting wet again.

The only sound was water dripping from the trees. After minutes of silence from their pursuers, Booth knew he was going to have to do something, before they were surrounded. "Hey, Rocky?" he called out. "You still coming after me?"

"Who's Rocky?" Cam demanded from the hiding spot she'd taken behind a tree. "We didn't find a Rocky."

"He's the leader, I think," Booth said.

"His name is probably Kevin," Brennan corrected.

"Oh yeah?" Booth asked, clearly interested. "Or is your name actually Kevin?" Booth raised his voice to taunt.

The swearing was clear from where the five of them hid behind the trees and Hodgins couldn't hold back a snort of laughter. "Who exactly are these guys?" he whispered.

"Not the most impressive gang you'll ever meet," Booth replied. "But they are better armed." Considering his options, Booth clicked the safety off the gun and aimed toward the voices. After a moment, he fired.

"There's five of us and four of you," Booth called, after the echo had died away. "I'd say things have changed. You're outnumbered, Kevin."

Brennan tilted her head toward him. "They have more weapons," she pointed out.

She felt him shrug. "They don't know that. Maybe we can persuade them to take off so we can get out of here."

More arguing came from above them and Booth used the noise to aim a second shot.

This time, the shot was followed by return fire. "We'll just wait 'til morning," Kevin yelled. "Then we'll pick you off like fish in a barrel."

"Was I really worth that much money, Kevin?" Booth asked. Next to him, Brennan whispered the answer to that question based on Kevin's bank account information. Booth gave a low whistle.

The next shot came from just a little closer and with hushed whispers, Booth forced his crew backwards.

Hodgins, crawling on his belly, appeared on Booth's left. "Angela and I looked at the map when we stopped about a mile back. We can get over the next hill, but it's going to force us toward Kevin's cabin."

"Probably their plan," Booth surmised, running options through his head. "If they force us to the cabin, their part of the bargain is met and they can take off."

"May we should do it," Brennan suggested.

"Why?" Angela hissed. "What purpose would it serve? Someone is waiting there to kill Booth."

"Exactly," Cam said, considering Brennan's idea. "A person. One. Probably. He would have expected the other four guys to be reinforcements. We beat them to the cabin, we have an advantage."

"It's going to be damn hard to hike in the dark," Booth pointed out. "We won't be able to turn on the lights. We'll be able to see our feet in front of us, not much more."

Hodgins shifted in what Booth thought was embarrassment. "Well, see, that's the thing," he stuttered. "When we stopped at that store, I picked up a few extra things."

"This isn't the time to worry about what I think," Booth snapped. "What did you pick up?" There was a small part of him that hoped Hodgins would pull hand grenades out of his pack.

Reaching into the bag, Hodgins pulled out two sets of goggles. "Night vision," he said, handing one set over to Booth. "This was all the store had in stock."

Having also crawled over, Angela smacked Hodgins on the arm. "We hiked up here with flashlights and you had those the whole time?"

"The flashlights worked fine until we got shot at," Hodgins grumbled.

Tuning out the argument, Booth pulled a set on and realized they weren't the best thing ever made, more like a toy for kids. However, considering their situation, he couldn't afford to be picky. "They'll do," he said, pushing the second set back toward Hodgins.

"Can't you just shoot them?" Brennan asked. "Now that you can see them?"

"I can't see them well," Booth explained shortly. "And they've taken cover, just like we have. Unless you want to stay here all night, we're hiking."

Sketching out a quick plan, Booth sent the rest of his team on the path Hodgins had suggested. Toward the cabin. Every thing he'd done that day felt like a choice between two evils. Pick the one that was less likely to get him, or anyone else, killed. The rain had picked up slightly again, and Booth used the noise as cover for their movement.

Despite his angry protests, Bones remained at his side, refusing to move until he did.

When they could no longer see the others, Booth looked to her. "Ready?" he asked.

"Of course," she replied.

Taking one shot back up the hill, the two of them followed the rest of the team, quickly disappearing over the next hill. The goggles provided just enough vision to allow them to avoid fallen trees and stay on the path Hodgins led. They stayed single file, looking like a bedraggled set of kindergarten students on the way to class. Despite his and their exhaustion, Booth pushed them to the limit of the terrain and their endurance, trying to stay one step ahead of the crew behind them.

Light was beginning to streak over the hills when a cabin appeared on the horizon. There was open land between the trees and the house, leaving no way for them to approach without exposing themselves.

"What do you think?" Hodgins asked. Angela leaned heavily against him, but exhaustion had forced any of them to quit complaining some time ago.

Booth tucked the gun into the waistband of his pants, pulling his shirt over it. The goggles were tossed on the ground at his feet. "I think we're going to walk in the front door."

"Are you kidding?" Brennan asked. "Is your gut telling you it's safe?"

Choosing to ignore the second comment, Booth explained his reasoning. "No. I'm tired and cold and hungry. And I'm not eating your protein bar," he added when he saw Brennan open her mouth. "Our guy is going to expect four men with me at gunpoint to walk in that door. Not me with four people from the lab and no guns. At least not one he can see."

To tired to argue, Cam just agreed. "Then let's get on with it. But if I get shot walking across this lawn, I'm going to be unhappy, Seeley."

Taking a deep breath, Booth stepped out of the trees, in clear view of the house. When he made it to the steps without being shot, the rest of them quickly followed. Climbing toward the entrance, he pulled the gun and motioned the rest of them against the wall as he carefully opened the door.

Still, nothing happened and Booth crept into the house, gun leading the way.

On a couch facing the door was a lone figure, a glass of alcohol in hand, despite the early hour.

The group behind him were peering around the door when he started muttering. "You have got to be kidding me."


	11. Chapter 11

They forced themselves in behind him, until Booth had to take several steps forward to make room. Angela closed and locked the door behind them, before slumping down to the floor in exhaustion. She didn't look to see who was in the room, too tired to care. "How did you survive all those years in the military?" she asked rhetorically, her eyes closing despite the situation.

Hodgins looked at her with loving amusement, shaking his head. He'd probably never convince her to go camping with him after this.

Brennan came to stand next to Booth, her eyes widening for just a second. "She did it?" she said to Booth incredulously. It wasn't the fact that it was a woman that surprised her, but the identity.

On the couch sat a well-dressed woman. Long dark hair neatly styled, with a glass of what looked like champagne in her hand. Booth scanned for weapons, but did not see any. He still had a feeling she was armed, though. The stated goal had been to kill him after all.

"I take it you know her?" Cam asked from behind them.

"Philippa Fitz," Booth said. His voice was flat, and Cam shivered at the depths of his anger. If she hadn't known what kind of man he was, she might have thought he'd shoot her on the spot. "Suspect. Killer," he described. "Take your pick of adjectives."

Philippa raised her glass in a mock salute. "So you do remember me," she said, slurring the words slightly. "I didn't figure you would." Looking past him, she studied the people he'd arrived with. "I don't think these are the people I hired to bring you to me."

Hodgins who had quietly slipped away, reappeared behind them. "She's the only one here," he said. "And I didn't see anyone else surrounding the house."

Giving a poor imitation of a laugh, Philippa shook her head. "Of course, I'm the only one here. There's no one else left thanks to you." She paused, considering. "In fact," she continued, pulling a gun from behind her and placing it next to her on the couch, "I planned on there being no one left when I was finished." She tried to laugh again, and Cam cringed. "Other than the dead bodies, of course."

"The crew you hired wasn't that impressive," Booth said. His finger was near, but not on the trigger of the gun. He wouldn't shoot her unless given no other option. "I left them behind in the woods twelve hours ago."

And he hoped they were currently going in the opposite direction of this cabin.

"And how many people did you plan on shooting?" Brennan asked.

Philippa focused on her, an annoyed glance crossing her features. "Booth, of course. Maybe me. I hadn't made a decision on that yet." She brushed her fingers along the gun. "Now, there's just too many people here to kill." She shook her head.

In the background, Hodgins roused Angela enough to get her to her feet. "Come on, Angie. Let's go find the kitchen. There might be some food."

"But Hodgins," she argued, grabbing his arm. She'd been seated with her eyes closed, not really paying attention. "That woman has a gun."

"I know," he said softly. "But it's okay." After watching for a moment, Hodgins didn't see a dangerous woman, just a sad, lost one.

From her position on the couch, Philippa watched them walk away, before finishing the drink in her hand and tossing the glass to the side. It shattered as it hit the floor and she flinched at the noise.

"I was supposed to kill you," she said to Booth. "I planned to kill you. I should have known it wouldn't be that easy."

"Yes," Brennan agreed with her. "You should have known. You have killed people before after all."

"It was an accident!" Philippa yelled, half rising from the couch, before settling back in again.

Cam looked from the woman to Booth and back again. "She accidentally killed someone?" she asked, trying to catch up.

Booth fought the urge to sigh. "She rigged a racing bike to kill her boyfriend. It took too long so she took a more direct approach. Unfortunately, her brother later rode the bike."

"My brother died and because of you my father found out what I'd done. He disowned me, hasn't talked to me since." The words were punctuated with half finished sobs as Philippa fought not to cry. "I lost it all. My family, my business, my money."

"And that's our fault?" Brennan interrupted, quickly growing as annoyed as Booth. "You killed people and got away with it. The prosecutors refused to charge you. You hired people to kidnap Booth and those men you hired knocked me unconscious and left me in the woods. How is any of that our fault?"

Booth put a hand on her arm to settle her, afraid that the confrontation would cause Philippa to reach for the gun. "You had to know that this wouldn't work," Booth said, attempting to take some of the heat from his voice.

From the look on Philippa's face, he wasn't successful. "I hired four men to bring you to me. I wanted you to see my face, to know who it was that killed you. Four men," she repeated, clearly disbelieving her plan hadn't worked. "How could you escape four men?"

"Did you meet them?" Booth couldn't stop from asking. "They did pretty well in the beginning, but it went down hill from there."

"I knew Kevin through his brother, the dentist. When the brother died, Kevin ran into a little bit of trouble. I offered to help him out if he helped me out. I had some money stashed Dad didn't know about." She shrugged. "Didn't figure I'd need money after this was over."

Shifting, Philippa's hand landed closer to, but not yet fully on the gun. Subtly, Booth stepped forward, putting Bones behind him. She recognized the move for what it was and glared at him, before allowing him to have the defensive position.

However, he'd already taken a bullet for her once before. If he thought that was happening again, Brennan was sure it was more than his skin that had been cooled in the rain.

"Why don't you move away from the gun," Booth suggested. "No sense in making this worse than it already is for you."

"You're going to jail this time," Brennan said confidently, and Booth fought not to roll his eyes. Leave it to his partner to be blunt at the worst time possible.

Philippa's hand finally landed on the weapon and Booth stepped so neither Bones nor Cam was in the direct line of fire. Cam, also annoyed with the move, stepped from behind him and made her way slowly around the room so she was in a position to make a move, if it was required. Cam doubted she could get to Philippa before she pulled the trigger, however.

"Take your hand off the gun," Booth ordered, bringing his own weapon up. His vision narrowed, until he saw little other than Philippa's hand and the gun. Her finger wasn't on the trigger, yet.

"I don't want to go back to jail," she admitted tearfully. "The couple of nights I spent there the first time were enough." With her free hand, she rubbed at her eyes, leaving a small smear of make-up behind.

"I doubt it," Brennan whispered, just loud enough that only Booth heard her. He agreed with his partner. Philippa needed to go back to jail, this time for longer than a couple of days. At some point in the last several years, the woman had come slightly unhinged.

Cam took a small step forward, stopping when Booth shook his head slightly. He didn't dare take his eyes from Philippa and give away Cam's position, and he didn't want Cam close enough to get hurt.

Booth saw Philippa's eyes harden, and knew what was coming. "And I'm not going to," she announced, seizing the weapon in her hand.

A single shot followed.

 _A/N: The woman is from the episode The Man in the Mud from 2008. Booth arrested her, despite the fact there wasn't quite enough evidence to convict her. Thankfully for me, so she could become a character in this story._

 _Were you surprised it was a woman?_


	12. Chapter 12

"That was an excellent shot," Brennan commented as she helped Cam wrap Philippa's hand with the supplies they'd found in the bathroom. The wound to the woman's hand was ugly, but it wouldn't be immediately fatal.

As she'd raised the gun, toward her own head instead of any of the people standing in front of her, Booth had taken a shot that had freed her of the gun. Philippa, drunk and as exhausted as the rest of them, had taken one look at her hand and promptly passed out.

Now, Philippa's head rested against the table, where they'd placed it after they dragged her into the kitchen. Brennan was not sure when she'd regain consciousness. Not that she was concerned about it. An unconscious woman was a lot easier to deal with.

Booth, leaning against the counter in the kitchen while the women worked, accepted the compliment with a nod. Exhausted, he had little energy to do more than move his head. He'd been up almost twenty-four hours straight which was bad enough, not to count the hours riding in an SUV and hiking through the woods.

Using that as an excuse, he had used the last several minutes to study his distracted partner. The last good picture of her he had in his head had been of Bones being dragged unconscious into the woods. He desperately wanted to replace that with something a lot more pleasant.

She looked tired from the long day and night, her skin pale. As far as Booth was concerned, he hadn't seen her look prettier. He'd expected her to come for him, but having her walk out of the darkness toward him was something he hoped he never forgot.

He worried about her head, about the concussion he was sure she must have. But Bones being Bones, she continued to power through, despite the danger to herself.

If she wouldn't take care, it looked like he was going to have to do it for her. After he slept for twenty-four hours straight. He wasn't going to be any good to any of them if he didn't get some sleep soon.

Maybe he could crash on Bones' couch. He'd like to be close to her for awhile. Or forever, if she gave him that option.

Which brought forth a whole new set of problems. When or even how to tell her he'd like to be more than just friends. If this whole thing had done nothing else, it had clarified his feelings for her.

Simply being near her was no longer enough. He wanted to be next to her, with her, both professionally and personally.

He'd almost lost her today, or yesterday now, he supposed. Booth had no intention of letting things continue the way they had.

Feeling his eyes on her, Brennan looked up and gave him a small smile. Her partner looked exhausted, but she was no longer worried he was hypothermic. Most of them were warming up after a long night in the woods. The pile of clothes shed was rising right along with the temperature.

Still, she had an urge to stand up and lean wearily against him; to feel his arms around her. Now that she was still, her head throbbed dully, reminding her that only a day ago, she'd been unconscious in the woods.

Maybe Booth would let her stay at his apartment. She could claim that because of the head injury, she didn't want to be alone. It was an excuse, and one he would easily agree with.

It was irrational to feel this way about another human being. To trust them with everything you were. But she trusted Booth to keep her safe in all the ways that mattered.

But she didn't have the first idea on how to tell him that. She could present it in a scientific frame if given long enough to think about it, but none of her feelings for Booth could be quantified scientifically. Brennan wasn't sure they could be quantified at all.

Angela would tell her it was love. She wasn't quite ready to admit her best friend was probably right.

Deciding to attribute her insecurities to her own exhaustion, Brennan turned her eyes back toward her unwilling patient. A small part of Brennan was jealous to see the woman either sleeping or unconscious, her head resting on the table. Brennan wouldn't mind a nap herself.

In the opposite corner, Angela nursed a cup of coffee, also from supplies they'd located in the house. Kevin was going to jail, too, as soon as they found him. He wasn't going to need them.

She'd watched the two partners stare at each other and hid her smile behind another sip from her mug. Maybe she wouldn't need to lock them in a room after all.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Hodgins asked. "We are miles from the car and there are still four other men with guns out there somewhere." He flicked his eyes toward the unconscious woman. "And I seriously doubt she's going to go anywhere willingly." He considered the option. "Could we just tie her up and leave her here? Send someone back for her later. The gunshot shouldn't be deadly in that amount of time."

From her spot, Angela groaned. "I am not going for another hike in these hills. Sorry, but the goal was to rescue Booth. He looks like he's in fine form," she said, raising her cup toward him. "My job is done."

Booth snorted. He was definitely in better shape than he expected to be at this point. But Hodgins did have a valid question. How was he going to get his people, and one suspect, down off these hills?

Considering the other four hadn't shown up yet, Booth assumed they'd taken off in their SUV. With the information they had already located, plus Philippa's help, when she decided to wake up, Booth was sure they'd be caught in short order.

There was still that pesky problem of getting themselves back to civilization, though.

Cam, suddenly looking like the cat that swallowed the canary, smiled. "I figure help should be showing up in a little while, if we're patient."

Booth managed to find the energy to turn his eyes to hers. He recognized the look on her face. "What did you do, Camile?" His friend could be as reckless as Bones when pushed.

She smiled back. "Don't sound quite so threatening with me, Seeley," she reprimanded him. "I did come out here and help save your life, after all."

Brushing her hands on her pants, she left the patient to Brennan and crossed her arms over her chest. "You could at least pretend to be grateful."

"Grateful?" he echoed. "You've all put yourselves in harm's way to save me. And we still have to get back to whatever vehicle you decided to bring up here." A thought suddenly popping into his head, he turned his annoyed glance toward Hodgins. "If you brought his little toy car as one of the vehicles, you're riding back with him."

Offended, Hodgins spluttered an answer. "I love that car," he argued. "But there's no way it would have made it in the weather we had last night. We brought the SUV."

"Probably the only good decision you made," Booth muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. After several deep breaths, he looked at Cam again. The anger faded as quickly as it had risen. "What plans did you make to get us out of here?" he asked, trying, to sound just a little bit nicer.

Taking pity on him, Cam answered. "I had a feeling this wouldn't be quite as easy as we'd hoped." She glanced at Dr. Brennan and sighed. "I didn't really think we should come at all, but I also knew there'd be no stopping some of us."

Shaking his head, Booth shot a glance at his partner that managed to be both annoyed and grateful at the same time. "Do I even need to ask which one of you that was?"

Brennan shrugged. "Partners look out for each other." Turning her attention from Booth's look, she looked expectantly at Cam. "Are you going to inform us of your plans?"

"I like the build up," Cam admitted. "But before we left, I left a message with where we went and why we were going."

The rest of the team, intrigued at this new development, stared at her. "Who did you call?" Brennan finally asked. Despite her annoyance with the woman next to her, Brennan placed the injured hand gently on the table and also stood. She'd suffer enough once they got her back to the city.

"Caroline. I left a message with Caroline telling her where we were going and why," Cam answered, almost gleefully.

Booth groaned. "She's going to kill me," he said. "It was a great idea, Cam, it will get us out of here alive, but as soon as that happens, she's going to kill me."

If anything, the grin on Cam's face broadened. "I know," she said.

Brennan looked out the window. "How long do you think it will take them to get here?" she asked, the question punctuated by the sudden sound of a helicopter overhead.

"I think they're here," Angela said. "I can't wait to get these shoes off my feet."

BbBbBb

"So you were kidnapped by four men, and your brilliant partner didn't once think to call the FBI for help. Listen, chér, I know you think a lot of her-" Caroline began.

Only to have Booth interrupt her. "They saved my life, Caroline. They work faster outside the system, you know that. The only reason they work with me is because of Bones. If she hadn't accepted me, none of the rest of them would have. The FBI wouldn't have shared evidence with them and I'd probably be dead in that cabin with Philippa instead of here getting yelled at by you."

The cavalry had arrived to get them out of the woods, thanks to Cam and Caroline. Philippa had been promptly arrested and taken to the hospital, both to tend to her injured hand and to sober up.

The other four men had yet to be found, but Booth had little doubt they would turn up quickly. They'd already been traced to a gas station in West Virginia. Booth gave them less than twenty-four hours before they'd also be back in DC. Most likely in the fine accommodations provided to criminals of their caliber.

Cam had closed her portion of the lab for the day and sent the rest of them home.

Booth hadn't been quite so lucky. Interviews, explanations, investigation had filled the remainder of the morning for him. He'd managed a small nap between some of it, but sleep was a much desired activity for him at the moment. Caroline was his last visitor before he could escape and go back to his apartment.

"She still should have called," Caroline complained, refusing to concede the point. "Dr. Brennan needs to learn she can't always do everything herself."

A smile appeared on Booth's face. "Do you think either one of us could teach her that lesson?"

"Don't try to make me smile, Seeley, not when I'm so annoyed with all of you." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Go home and get some sleep."

Booth nodded and followed her out of his office. He had every intention of doing just that, but there was someplace he had to go first.

BbBbBb

He had take out in hand when he knocked on her door. Not surprised that she answered so quickly, he followed her in and placed in the food in the center of the coffee table.

"I thought you'd be asleep," he said, going to the refrigerator for a beer. He wasn't sure when she'd started stocking it for him, he just knew it would always be there if he looked for it.

"I tried," she said, "but the adrenalin still running through my system has made it difficult to settle down."

"Yeah," he agreed, dishing out the food for the two of them, "me, too." Her hair was still damp from the warm shower she'd taken and Booth could smell just a hint of whatever lotion she used. It was just enough to drive him crazy.

Despite his desire to see her, he had gone to his apartment first. After a shower he'd managed to sit down for about ten minutes before he was on his feet again and out the door. Some things just couldn't wait.

"Why do you keep studying me like that?" she demanded, reaching for her portion of the food. He'd done it at the cabin and she'd let it go then, but now her logical mind demanded an answer.

Except, there was small part of her that was apprehensive about it.

Too tired to lie, Booth took the opposite path. "Just thinking how pretty you are," he said, taking a bite of food.

Brennan blinked, but it was the only reaction as she also took a bite of food. "Is that what you were thinking when you were staring at me in the cabin?"

He took another piece of food and considered his answer. "Yeah, I think that's what I was thinking then, too. I'm too tired to remember. Are you sure you're okay?" he abruptly asked.

She tilted her head. "Of course, I'm okay. I didn't get shot."

A hand was dragged roughly through his hair. "I know you didn't get shot," he said patiently. "Neither did I. I meant from being knocked unconscious. I left you in the woods. I thought you were dead," he finished roughly. Setting the fork down, he rose and paced toward the window before coming back again.

"Booth," she said gently, "you did what had to be done."

He disagreed. "I shouldn't have left you there. I should have found a way to come back and get you."

Also rising, Brennan came forward and put a hand on his arm. "You left me there to save my life. And sometimes, I have to come and get you. That's how our partnership works, Booth. "

"You could have died," he repeated, not quite ready to move on from that fact. "The blow to your head was bad, Bones. You shouldn't have been out there alone."

She squeezed his arm. "You could have died, too, Booth. You came a lot closer than I did." Licking her lips, she looked up at him. "I was scared for you."

But never scared of him. Never scared of what he would say or how he would make her feel. Never scared that he would leave her behind like everyone else had.

He looked down at the hand on his arm, before making a choice and leaning his head forward. When she didn't back away, he pressed his lips gently to hers.

Booth didn't deepen the kiss and neither did she. It was soft and gentle and he was the first to back away. "I shouldn't have," he whispered until she pressed a finger to his lips to silence him.

"Apparently there a lot of things you think you shouldn't have done the last twenty-four hours. I don't think that kiss should be one of them." Brennan looked down at the food and down the hall toward the bedroom. "I think I can sleep now. Would you like to join me?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You want me to take a nap with you."

She pulled him down the hall. "Among other things," she said, deciding to throw caution to the wind. If anything, the past twenty-four hours had taught her that you couldn't wait, or you might miss your chance.

Their job was dangerous, there was no sense in waiting.

Booth let her pull him down the hall, his heart racing despite his exhaustion. They had all day, to sleep and to enjoy each other. Of all the things he wished he hadn't done that day, following her down the hall wasn't one of them.


End file.
